BEYOND the BOOKS
AN UNFORGETTABLE FRIDAY
A
FTER THE final bell had rung —
tires with several spokes missing from
to conclude a rewarding school
both wheels, it had one brake, a frayed
day — we took a short walk just
and broken cable that led to the spot
beyond the premises to a vast and dusty
where the rear brake should be, and just
sand-lot playground to watch JBFC middle-
one barely functional gear — and, still, he
school boys compete against a rival team in
absolutely beamed.
a “football” match. As we approached, hundreds of children, many pint-sized and as young as five or six (and all unescorted by adults), streamed toward the playground. One
Children of all ages and sizes immediately swarmed to the boys. Matt, our amateur photographer, fascinated many with his camera. Dayton sat on the ground as children
boy, perhaps 10, arrived on his new
collected twigs and lined them up on his left
bicycle. How far away was home, I asked.
leg. As more twigs took their places, more
“I’ve come 15 kilometers,” he told me, proudly. “I couldn’t have come if I didn’t
children gathered to join in the game. Christian picked up a six-year-old from
have my new bicycle. It’s a FINE bicycle,
the swarm of little boys following him
don’t you think?”
around and placed the child squarely on his
With nicks and scratches everywhere on its oversized white frame and threadbare
68 | TIMES
OF BRUNSWICK • FALL 2016
shoulders. Immediately, the boy clamped his legs tight and, like a tic, settled in to
TOP ’Wick students relax and mingle with their newfound friends while volunteering at the JBFC, an orphanage and school in the Mwanza Region. MIDDLE Christian LeSueur and a JBFC student read together in a lateafternoon ritual. BOTTOM A JBFC student mugs for photographer Matt Womble ’17.